The Hinsdale Fire Department and four other area departments. including La Grange and Western Springs, got together Saturday and Sunday for live-burn training at a vacant building at 421 E. Ogden Ave. in Hinsdale. 

Hinsdale firefighter/paramedic Steve Tullis said the point of the training was to practice large-scale operations for fires that demand a multi-company response. 

Tullis is the spokesman for the Hinsdale Fire Department, and he explained the event best in an email to Patch:

"Oak Brook, Western Springs, La Grange and Clarendon Hills were all there to work on multi-company operations, planing for big events such as a large structure fire in Hinsdale. We worked on large-area searches inside a structure, hose-line advancement, truck operations such as cutting hole in the roof for ventilation and forceable entry, and above all, incident command (managing the entire event with several fire department companies on the scene). We have a few recently promoted officers and two new hires on our department, so this was a great opportunity for them to hone their skills.

"We also dedicated some time to firefighter rescues, which in our world is called rapid intervention teams (RIT).

"We went through four different scenarios/evolutions that day with eight companies involved in each scenario/evolution. Nobody was injured and everyone learned a lot and had fun."